Words That Connect Us
by NebulaWrites
Summary: Kisame wasn't the type to write on himself, and apparently neither was his soulmate. If he even had one. But when on a mission to Konoha long looping letters appear on his wrist, the shark nin isn't sure if he's upset or happy that he does in fact have a soulmate.
1. Chapter 1

_Aaaaayyyyyyy just gotta say KisaOro is unknown and I will change that XD third drabble! Also on Ao3_

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Nothing like this had ever happened before, at least never to him. Because of the lack of things randomly appearing on his skin, Kisame had just _assumed_. Assumed he had no soulmate and never had the thought bothered him, he was a freak and hardly even felt human at times. But now, as the looping letters appeared on his wrist, the blue skinned ninja could hardly breathe.

 _East Konoha_

 _0600 hours_

 _Wooden apartments_

 _Hatake Uchiha Senju stupid pervert Hyuga_

The swordsman swallowed thickly and looked up to stare at the village in the distance. _'Konoha.'_ That's what the Mizukage told him about the seemingly so far away mound of darkness. It was in that village, where his soulmate resided at the very _least_ until the end of the day. If he was correct, it was only 0430 hours and if one rushed they would make it to the Leaf in merely an hour.

"Kisame?" a soft voice asked and the man turned, unaware of how his body had began to tremble. The wide innocent eyes of the daughter of a feudal lord stared up at him as she tilted her head. "I have to-." "Go on, it's your soulmate. The others will make sure I get to Konoha safely." She cuts him off and the shark ninja didn't hesitate to take off in a run. Thin branches snapped against his skin sharply, leaving stinging patches but he hardly noticed them.

He was going to meet – or at the least _look_ at – his soulmate and his mind was racing with questions that in his opinion were simply common for someone to think. What would they look like, what did their voice sound like, were they a male or female? Those were only a few of the questions buzzing around his skull but as the looming village grew closer they became a jumble of words that he didn't even pay attention to any longer.

Skidding to a halt at the gate of the village, Kisame quickly explained why he was there hours before his group and silently charged into the village when the guards gave him the go ahead. Every set of eyes that flicked at him as he ran past had him flinching and mentally cursing his appearance. If he weren't in the situation that was currently going on, he would have stopped to ask directions towards the wooden apartments in the east part of the village.

But logic seemed to have completely disappeared from him at the moment as he stopped to get his bearings. Lightly panting, the blue skinned ninja stiffened in shock as a head full of matte black hair bobbed beneath his nose. The owner of said hair didn't even pass him a look but when the Mist ninja called out lightly, the woman stopped and turned. Black eyes looking him up and down, the kunoichi cocked her hips and raised a thin brow at him. "Yes?"

He hadn't acted consciously but now this could actually help him.

Clearing his throat lightly, Kisame rubbed the back of his neck and offered a grin that hopefully didn't show off too much of his teeth. "Sorry, but could you point me in the direction of the east section of the village?" he asked and the kunoichi rolled her eyes, pointing off to the side sharply and borderline barking a response of "Stick to the alleys, it's easier than going through the main roads."

The shark ninja thanked her swiftly before leaping atop of a building, figuring that it'd be better that way compared to trying to slip through the crowd. Having to stop a few times to make sure he hadn't gone too far, he dropped to the ground finally as the apartments came into sight. Kisame hoped in the back of his head that he wasn't too late, and as he rounded the corner a sharp yelp of surprise escaped him and the person who was there.

Literally tripping over his own feet, he clipped the shoulder of the other shinobi yet still somehow ended up landing on top of the smaller. "Orochimaru!" a sharp voice snapped and the ninja beneath Kisame hardly reacted, wide golden snake eyes staring up at the large shark-like man. "Sorry sorry!" the larger spluttered, uncomfortably aware of the flush on his face, before he made a noise of utter shock as someone lifted him by his collar and dumped him off to the side.

The blonde standing in front of him was wholly fuming in fury as she stared down at Kisame, cracking her knuckles. "Just _what_ do you think you were doing, _huh_?!" she snarled before she whipped around and absolutely nailed a perfect punch into the stomach of – in Kisame's opinion – the poor white haired shinobi that just came around the corner. " _Tsunade_!" Orochimaru shouts as the man is sent flying through a wall of a building and the kunoichi rounds on the pale ninja.

Two other shinobi are watching in ill amusement as the two begin to quarrel, Orochimaru flailing his arms around in ridiculous motions. A sweep of his arm towards Kisame, however, has the shark on his feet and catching a thin wrist quickly. The quarreling duo instantly fall silent as Kisame turns Orochimaru's wrist over and stares at the black ink that formed the exact words on his own wrist.

"Pardon me..?"

Orochimaru sounds more annoyed than perplexed and the shark looks up quickly before letting go of the other's wrist. "Ah… sorry. Hoshigaki Kisame." He offered his hand and sharp golden eyes instantly locked onto the writing on the larger male's blue skin. "I- _oh_." The smaller splutters before somewhat timidly taking Kisame's hand, Tsunade looks between them before grabbing their wrists and turning them upright.

"What does 'oh' mean? _OH_! Never mind. Shark boy! Mistreat Orochimaru and I'll hang you by your balls." Emphasizing her words with another crack of her knuckles, she storms over to where she'd launched the white haired other. Orochimaru hissed distastefully after Tsunade before turning to look up at Kisame, his golden eyes curious with literally no trace of fear. Swallowing slightly, the smaller crossed his arms and cocked his hips as he finally tore his gaze away from the other's. "Soulmates… eh? Orochimaru."

Kisame grins sheepishly and the expression earned a small noise of amusement from the snake. The simple task of writing down instructions seemed to have been enough to change their lives quite a bit forever possibly.

Definitely.


	2. Chapter 2

_Post-drabble 3!_

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Konoha wasn't _too_ bad. That is if it were being compared to Kiri, and Kisame was doing exactly that even as he watched Orochimaru scowl blankly at the redheaded woman clinging to his arm. "You treat sensei right, you hear me? I'll mess you up properly if you hurt him, y'know!" she snarled, waving a kunai at Kisame threateningly before pouting as Orochimaru snatches it out of her hand.

"Kushina _enough_ ," hisses the Sannin as he shakes his arm free, fierce golden eyes narrowing into threatening slits before rolling in exasperation when an offended squawk erupts from nowhere. The Hoshigaki turns in time to see a violet-haired blur streak by and ram into Orochimaru, a little girl – most likely a genin – looks up at Orochimaru with wide, wounded eyes and a hurt voice quivers as she speaks.

"How could you, sensei, you said you wouldn't help Kushina with her training anymore now that you've got me!"

Laughing at his soulmate's expression of utterly aggravated defeat, the swordsman pushes up from his seat to pull Orochimaru out from between the two kunoichi and lets the snake step behind him for shelter. "Who are _you_?" the girl demands, rounding on the shark-like man and standing her ground even as he grins at her – all teeth but no warning. "Sensei, you said you would help teach me more poisons, why are you hiding-?"

"That's sensei's soulmate, Anko, how could you have not heard? Pretty boy fainted when he heard about it." Kushina cuts in, grabbing Anko's shoulders with a bloodthirsty grin, adding, "I could teach her a few things you taught me, sensei, if you want to spend some time with Blueberry."

This gets a cackle from Anko, and a dubious blink from Kisame as Orochimaru sighs heavily. "In other words, you're going to teach her even if I say otherwise. I'll make extra batches of antidote for the collateral damage, now get out of here." the Sannin orders, stepping out from behind Kisame as his two students grin at each other – running off without looking back.

"Blueberry?" Kisame asks in confusion and Orochimaru gives him a pitying glance.

"Kushina finds ridiculous things to call people. She calls me 'Slinky' most of the time if it helps?"

It does – just enough – and the Hoshigaki snorts, returning to his task of carefully wiping down Samehada. The two of them had been in the middle of a conversation about swords when Kushina had arrived, but for the life of him, Kisame couldn't remember where they had been. "I apologize about my students, Mikoto is the only one who isn't as rambunctious as Kushina and Anko." Orochimaru borderline groaned sliding back into his seat with was seemed to be a great deal of relief. Kisame grins at his soulmate in response, reassuring that it was fine before their conversation switched back to their previous one until the sun began to set.

"Do you not need to head back to Kiri?" the snake summoner asked suddenly, sounding concerned. "I would think the Mizukage would like to know where her top Jounin is."

Did he _seriously_ forget to mention it? Kisame looks up, his hands freezing in the middle of wrapping Samehada up again. "The Mizukage and Hokage agreed to allow me to be a shinobi for both Konoha and Kiri," he says, and Orochimaru blinks in surprise. "I need to spend a maximum of half a year in Konoha before heading back to Kiri."

"So, do you have a place to stay in Konoha?"

"Not quite…" he'd gotten distracted with talking with Orochimaru, meaning he had completely forgotten about finding a place to stay. He didn't think it mattered too much yet; a cheap hotel room would be fi-

"I have a spare room if you'd like." Orochimaru offers, entirely catching Kisame off guard – because even after a bare minimum of three months he knew how sacred Orochimaru's home was to him. The swordsman blinks, looking at his soulmate curiously, and the Sannin tellingly doesn't look at him, though he can still see the color tingeing high cheekbones. Chuckling softly at the other's blush, the shark-like nin accepts the offer with a hum – if Orochimaru made the offer in the first place, he clearly felt comfortable enough to have Kisame in his home – before standing up while slinging Samehada over his shoulder.

Orochimaru stands with him, flush now down to a hardly visible tint, carefully falling into step with Kisame as he guides him with a few soft comments. It's not quite surprising to Kisame when they head out of the village slightly, following a road lined heavily with trees and bushes. There are houses out here, he realizes as the area thins out a bit more, houses and gardens and plenty of well maintained, shaded sitting areas. It would easily fool a civilian, or even a genin if someone were to wander across this place, but it doesn't fool a shinobi like Kisame.

The area is abandoned, devoid of any human chakra signatures, and he remembers overhearing Tsunade talk about how it wasn't healthy for Orochimaru to live alone the way he did. This had to be the snake summoner's clan lands, all but empty now that he was the only remaining survivor. "This way," murmurs Orochimaru, turning down a different road as he brushes his hand over a huge snake that was lounging on a stonewall. "I hope you don't mind the snakes, they usually keep to themselves."

"I don't mind at all," Kisame reassures, grinning a little.

Orochimaru nods slightly, stepping onto a porch and forming a single hand sign before he reaches for the door. Next thing Kisame knows he's looking around the living room as Orochimaru makes tea in the kitchen. There's a photograph on one of the many bookshelves of a man and a woman – Orochimaru's parents most likely – sitting on the porch together, smiling and leaning against each other with a small child just barely visible in the window. Orochimaru takes more after his mother, Kisame realizes, studying the woman's long black hair and pale skin before shifting his gaze to Orochimaru's father – who had spiky brown hair, average skin, and familiar vibrant golden eyes.

It's purely coincidence that he spots the other picture frame – tucked sideways between the books – but he carefully pulls it out to look at it. A photo of Orochimaru – young and smiling with a light in his eyes that Kisame hadn't seen before – in the middle of his parents, but also in front of an elderly gentleman. "So that's where that went," Orochimaru says from beside the swordsman, smirking when Kisame jumps a little. "I've been looking for that picture."

A little sheepishly, Kisame offers it to his soulmate in exchange for the tea in his hand. The Sannin's smirk changes to a soft smile, his thin fingers trailing across the frame of the picture as Kisame watches him. "Who is he?" he asks, trusting Orochimaru to understand.

"My grandfather," the smaller male whispers, his tone nostalgic, setting the photo next to the one of his parents. "He lived with us until he died. The Nidaime was great friends with him, it's because of that friendship that my clan was able to work out a way to get around needing immense amounts of chakra to do many A-rank or even S-rank jutsu."

Kisame watches Orochimaru, curious and intrigued by the gentle expression his soulmate wore before smiling when golden eyes flickered up to his face. Orochimaru flushed slightly, looking away and mumbling something about dinner as he made for the kitchen once again. This makes him chuckle, just faintly, before the swordsman decides to call out an offer to help. Nearly two hours later, Kisame finds himself watching Orochimaru in a way that was very nearly fond as the Sannin slept in one of the chairs in the living room.

Certainly, that couldn't be comfortable. The Hoshigaki tilts his head a little as he wipes a stray droplet of water off his cheek, finding it amusing that his soulmate had fallen asleep so quickly. He hadn't been in the shower that long, had he? Either way, he steps forward quietly, wondering if it would be better to just wake Orochimaru or carry him to his room. The latter would be easier, Kisame decides as he carefully slides his arms underneath the other's sleeping form, lifting him up against his chest.

If he finds the small whine Orochimaru makes in his sleep cute, no one needed to know. He finds Orochimaru's room easily – it's the only other room with a bed in it – and it's even easier to lay the Sannin down before leaving without waking him. Kisame grins to himself – feeling smugly victorious – walking back down the hall towards his room, sitting on the mattress, as he gets ready to lie down.

Just as he's about to, he catches sight of his wrist and freezes as he reads the words written on his skin.

' _Thank you, Kisame, sleep well._ '

The swordsman smiles at the message, tracing his finger over the neatly looping hand – entirely unsurprised that he didn't see the message on Orochimaru's skin.

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 _I have no idea where this went, but I really just rolled with it lol! KisaOro is unknown and underappreciated, meaning I'll drag it out of the shadows for the world to see! Hope you enjoyed~!_


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